How to Lower Your Car Insurance with GPS Fleet Tracking

Looking for information on how to lower your car insurance costs? Read on to learn how GPS tracking, sometimes referred to as car insurance tracking, can reduce your overhead expense for not just insurance and maintenance but also improve the operating performance of your fleet.

Ever since the days of LoJack, we have all known that the ability to track your vehicles makes them easier to track if they are stolen, or the driver gets lost. In 2023, the tools of GPS fleet tracking are far more sophisticated and easier to conceal, but modern car insurance trackers can do anything the older technology can do.

And insurance companies offer up to 30 percent discounts to customers who fit their fleet with GPS tracking technology. But modern GPS tracking is useful in so many ways that sometimes your insurance company will not just lower your premiums but also pick up part of the cost of your tracking devices.

Here are five reasons why:

GPS Fleet Tracking Lowers Your Risk of Vehicle Theft

Car and Driver Magazine reported that multiple states reported increased car and truck theft rates in 2022. Car theft rates were up 31 percent in New Jersey, which had the nation’s lowest rate of increased theft. Car theft rates were up 88 percent in Washington state, with 12,569 in the first three months of the year compared to just 6,692 in the first three months the year before.

Nationally, over 800,000 cars and trucks are stolen every year. But GPS tracking makes recovering a stolen vehicle easier.

In Washington State, there are lots of attempts to steal vehicles, but a majority of fleet vehicles are equipped with GPS tracking. In Washington, 71 percent of stolen vehicles are recovered.

Mississippi, on the other hand, has relatively few vehicles equipped with GPS tracking. Just 19 percent of cars and trucks stolen in Mississippi are ever recovered.

Commercial tracking GPS sends real-time location and motion data to your dispatch office. You are alerted when drivers leave their expected routes, when the engine is turned on at an unexpected time, and when vehicles arrive at their intended destination. The ability to keep tabs on vehicle locations at all times is one of the reasons that insurance companies offer big discounts for car tracking devices. But it’s not the only reason you get a discount for GPS.

GPS Fleet Tracking Helps You Encourage Good Driving Behaviors

GPS fleeting tracking isn’t just a moving red dot on a map. Your GPS fleet tracking device can be hardwired into each vehicle’s onboard diagnostics to report those times your driver has to hit the brakes. It can alert you to harsh acceleration, wide curves, and dangerous behavior in construction zones and on icy roads. It can alert you when and where your driver is speeding.

GPS isn’t necessarily a driver punishment system. NPR reported on a study sponsored by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in which drivers were rewarded with $25 at the end of each week of safe driving. 

Drivers who received a cash reward for safe driving slowed down and stayed within the speed limit. That has another benefit for the company that owns the fleet.

GPS Fleet Tracking Reduces Fuel Expense

We all know that the faster you drive, the more fuel your vehicle burns. But many of us need to learn how much more fuel our cars and trucks burn when we drive faster.

Reducing your speed by five to 10 miles per hour can improve your fuel efficiency by seven to 14 percent.

When fuel costs $4.00 a gallon, that’s like getting a $10 discount on every 20-gallon fill-up.

Also, because professional drivers who drive slower get involved in fewer crashes, your company will accrue a better driving record that is rewarded with lower insurance premiums.

GPS Fleet Tracking Discourages Unauthorized Use of Your Trucks

Many companies strictly prohibit the personal use of delivery vehicles and trucks.

Your operator can’t use a delivery van to drop their child off at a soccer game. They can’t borrow your flatbed trailer to move their furniture. They can’t use a fleet vehicle for a midnight rendezvous.

This policy is because, unless you pay for a rider or buy a supplemental policy, fleet vehicles used for personal purposes are not covered by your insurance policy.

GPS tracking will inform you when your vehicles leave their geofences. It will inform you when your vehicles are left idling to run the air conditioner or being used for overnight shelter. You are free to allow the use of your vehicles any way you like, but with GPS installed, you will make informed decisions.

GPS Also Helps You Keep Up with Vehicle Maintenance

GPS software can be integrated into your management software. It can deliver the performance metrics your operators can see on their dashboards, information on air pressure in tires, rpm generated by the engine, and wear and tear on brake shoes.

Getting reminders from your maintenance schedule and real-time data when your vehicles are on the road helps you focus on preventive maintenance instead of repairs. It also reduces the risk of accidents and, over time, keeps your insurance rates lower.

GPS Technologies can set you up with a system that allows you to monitor every vehicle in your fleet from your smartphone. You can keep up with your vehicles and ensure safety for your drivers from anywhere, anytime, day or night, 24/7.

The discounts on your insurance premiums aren’t automatic. You should check with GPS Technologies about which insurance companies will give you the best discounts for installing a new fleet tracking system before installing it. Then GPS Technologies can help you with documentation to get your policy rewritten for a lower rate.

Have any questions? GPS Technologies has answers! Call us on weekdays at (847) 382-5107.

Categorised in: Fleet Tracking

This post was written by GPS Technologies